These prewriting exercises probably work
best when combined with a more traditional technique such as
using the Journalist's Questions. The idea is to ask
students to think about the events that they narrate in a
less typical way and then to use those thoughts to develop
their narratives.

These exercises can be useful after the
students have begun drafting, since they think about the
details of the event that the writer can add to a working
draft. For instance, after scripting a section of the
narrative, writers could work on adding dialogue to their
working drafts. Or after thinking about the decision points
in the series of events, they can add some details to their
working drafts on the reasons that the series of events
occurred in the way that they did. The exercises listed
below include connections to the writer's working draft, but
I'd suggest cutting that part off when assigning the
exercises, to help students focus on invention rather than
on thinking about how to use the material later. Once they
complete the exercise, I'd give them the follow-up
application, focusing on their working draft of the
narrative itself.

Some of the exercises make for good class
or small group discussion as well. If students script
pieces, they can read the scripts out loud, assigning one
another parts -- with the author of the script taking notes
on places where the dialogue is difficult or incorrect.
Using this technique, writers can find places where their
attempt to capture the flow of a conversation is stilted or
unrealistic.

Students also seem to enjoy sharing their
writing on the event for a tabloid, an interview or as a
fable -- though the exercise can lead to giggling and noise.
Student writers can also benefit from sharing their list of
decision points, since classmates can often think of
alternatives that the writers do not. By thinking through
all the possible alternatives, students are better able to
think about the significance of the events for the "So
what?" details that they'll need in their narratives.

Think of the different
people involved in the event that you're narrating as
characters in a piece of literature. In the same way that
you'd write a character sketch for characters in a short
story or play, write a paragraph on each of the people
involved in the event you're writing about. Once you've
finished, compare the details in your sketches to the
details on the characters in your draft. Revise your
draft, based on the differences that you find.

Sketch out the events as
blocks in a comic strip. Don't worry about the artwork --
just use stick figures. What events would you focus on in
your sketches? What parts would you leave out? Comic
strips don't show every single event that occurs; they
focus on the events that are necessary to the overall
message. Once you've sketched out your blocks, take a
look at your working draft. Are the blocks that you
include in your comic strip included in the narrative?
Are they recognizable -- how do the blocks in your comic
strip relate to the organizational structure of your
narrative? Are the ones that you've left out of the comic
strip included in the narrative -- if so, what do they
add to your overall purpose?

Write a version of the
events in your narrative for a newspaper article.
Remember to include the answers to the journalist's
questions (who? what? where? when? why? how?). Focus on
the facts as they occurred. Use an inverted pyramid order
-- begin with the facts and details that are most
important to readers and end with the facts that are less
important. Once you've finished, compare the article to
your working draft. Have you included all the facts in
your draft that you included at the beginning of your
newspaper article? Are the details that you include
toward the end of the article (the ones that are less
important) included in your working draft -- are they
emphasized or subordinate? Think about what you would
want someone who read that newspaper article to know that
isn't included in the article itself. Are those points
included in your narrative?

Outline the events that
occur in your narrative. Identify the places where you or
others involved had to make a decision of some kind. For
each decision point, brainstorm on the alternatives that
could have been pursued. What other options were
available? Once you've thought through the possibilities,
examine the way that you discuss the decisions in your
draft -- do you include details on the alternatives? How
do these other options affect the way that you think
about the event now? Have you looked back at the event
that you're writing about and thought, "Gee, I wish I had
done that differently"? Add some depth to your narrative
by fleshing out alternatives as well as how and when they
became important.

Choose a time in your
narrative when you and other characters are talking with
one another. Script out the conversation as an exchange
in a play. Try to capture the language in the style that
would have actually been used. Make the dialogue accurate
to the event; don't worry if it's not Standard Written
English (personal conversations rarely are). Once you've
scripted out your dialogue, move to your working draft.
How does the dialogue that you've written in your script
compare to the episode in your narrative? Can you add
details from the script to your draft? How would adding
the dialogue affect the purpose of your narrative?

Describe the events that
occurred for a different audience. How does your
narrative change if it is written for an older family
member, someone interviewing you for a job, a younger
student, or someone you had never met before? What would
you leave out? What would you add? What would you
describe in different language and style? How would the
points that you emphasize change? Once you've thought
about the differences, return to your working draft. Are
the points that you DO include right for your audience?
Are there parts of your alternate version that can be
added to your working draft? As you revise, think about
the details in the narrative fit your audience in
particular.

Reflect on the events as you
recall them. Readers will want to know why you're sharing
the story. Your narrative needs to answer the question,
"So what?" When your readers get to the end of the story,
you should have answered the question for them. Draw a
chart with three columns. Label the columns as
follows:

Events

So What Do/Did I
Think?

So What Do/Did
I Think?

Outline the major events in
rows under the "Events" column; then, fill in the spaces
under the other columns for each of the major events. For
each of the columns, try to think about the "So What?"
Explain why the event matters to you in the second
column, and why the event matters to others who are
involved (directly or indirectly) in the third column.
Think about how the events mattered at the time and how
they matter now, looking back. Once you've finished
filling in the chart, move to your working draft. Are the
"So what?" details that you included in the chart clear
in your draft? Are there details that you can add to make
the significance of the event understandable to your
readers?

Think about the longevity of
the event in your narrative. How will you remember the
event five years from now? ten years? twenty-five years?
As you think about the effect of the events in the
narrative, you need to focus on how the events will
matter to you and your readers. What kind of staying
power do the events have? Brainstorm or freewrite a few
paragraphs on why you think this event will still matter
in the future. Once you've written about the longevity
and enduring importance, move back to your working draft.
When you talk about events is their staying power clear
to the reader? How do you communicate the enduring
qualities of the events in your narrative? What details
from your brainstorming or freewriting might you work
into your draft?

Think about the details
included in your narrative -- facts, sensory details, and
emotions. Draw a chart like this:

Facts

Sensory Details

Emotions

Then think about the facts
that are important to your narrative, and fill in the
chart. Work to find at least ten important facts. For
each, think about related sensory details (sight, sound,
taste, touch, smell), and consider the emotions related
to the facts (fear, pleasure, sadness, etc.). For
instance, a fact in my narrative might be "three fresh
baked loaves of bread on the kitchen table." For sensory
detail, I'd write about the smell of fresh baked bread,
the warmth of the kitchen from the still hot stove, and
the golden brown color of the bread. For emotions, I'd
write about how the loaves of bread gave me a happy
feeling as I remembered how my father always bakes bread
for special holidays and how my grandmother always baked
us bread when we visited her. Once you've finished
working through the chart for the facts from your paper,
move back to your working draft. Are the sensory details
and emotions that you included in the chart communicated
in your draft? Revise to add details, taking material
from your chart whenever you can.

Write an account of the
events in your narrative for a fable, a tabloid, or a
television or radio interview. These options give you a
lot of room for creativity. What happens if the people
involved in the events were animals and you had to come
up with a moral? If the events were reported in a tabloid
paper, what would be emphasized? Where would things be
embellished? What would be left out? Finally, if you were
interviewed about the event, what would you include in
your story -- your answer depends on where you're being
interviewed (by Barbara Walters once you're rich and
famous? on a talk show by Oprah? on a late night show by
David Letterman or Jay Leno?) Be sure to indicate where
you're being interviewed. Once you finish your alternate
account of the events, move to your working draft. Are
there facts that you can add now that you've thought
about the events in your narrative from a different point
of view? Are there facts that seem less important? Can
they be deleted? Did you add details and description to
your account that can be revised and added to your draft?
What parts of your alternate version wouldn't make any
sense at all in your final draft of the narrative?